Every first time founder waits too long, everyone hopes that an employee will turn around. But the right answer is to fire fast.
The second part of how to hire: try not to.
You have to be intense. This only comes from the CEO, this only comes from the founders.
Companies that I've been very involved with, that have had a very bad first hire in the first 3 or so employees never recover from it.
If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.
AirBnB spent 5 months interviewing their first employee, before they hired someone and in their first year, they only hired 2 people.